Till We Are Home

If you haven’t noticed yet, some, if not a lot of the content I post here on my blog relates experiences from my life. I’m not trying to share these with you to shine the light on me or puff myself up…at least I hope it doesn’t come across that way. Some of the posts I write are more essay or article style, but a lot come from experiences in my life in hopes of sharing the truths I learn along the way. 

Instead of desiring to turn the spotlight onto myself, my aim instead is to share the great help I’ve been given through Jesus Christ. 

The apostle John walked with the Lord during His earthly ministry, was counted among the twelve disciples and even brought in nearer as one of the 3 closest to Jesus. He wrote one of the four gospels in our New Testament and four other books in the Bible, including one of my favorites in Revelation. John witnessed the life of Christ, then took the example from Jesus and worked as an apostle to bring the gospel out. 

In one of his letters, John opens by saying he indeed was a witness to the very things he writes about. From these experiences with Christ, John writes that he wants to share these with his audience. He wants to relate to them the stories and the truths that he learned while with Jesus. And one of the reasons he shares for doing so comes from verse 4 of 1 John 1, “And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

I’ve often glossed over this passage, moving on through the letter to catch some of the other great nuggets it contains. Yet, as I read this passage today, I was moved by his reasons for sharing the truth of the gospel with his audience. Not only does he likely want them to know and love Christ more and to be helped in their walk with Him, but he shares these stories and truths with them because it completes his joy by doing so.

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.” (“A Word About Praising” in Reflections on the Psalms) Lewis hits on the very same principle that John touches on – we share with others what we enjoy. And in doing so, this brings us greater joy…in fact, it completes our joy in the object of our affection. 

John wants to tell his audience about the One, “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands,” (1 Jn 1:1) because it gives him great joy to do so. He wants to brag on the Lord for it is the Lord who saved him…it is the Lord who helps him…it is the Lord who is the greatest joy for not only John but for all who would read his letter.

And that’s why I’m writing this blog; that’s why I relate the stories from my life. I don’t write to brag on myself, for nothing good comes from me at all. The good that comes from the experiences I write about, the good that comes from the pain, the hurt, the sorrow, the joys, the highs, the celebrations all come truly from the Lord. He is the One I’m trying to point to. He’s the One I’m trying to brag on.

Doing so completes my joy from these experiences of God’s nearness in my life.

My hope in relating these stories is, again, not to shine the light on myself or my family, but it’s to shine the light on what Christ has done for us. In doing so, my aim, then, is to encourage you as the reader. Like John, my hope is for you to hear these stories, to hear the truths I’ve learned, and find encouragement in Christ for your own life. As you walk through valleys and dark days, I hope you hear how near the Lord was to one of His children and allow that to increase your faith in Him to do the same for you.

So, if you don’t mind, I’ll keep recounting the ways the Lord’s nearness has been my good and the ways I’ve seen Him lead me by still waters and through dark valleys to show that He is with me…and you. My prayer is this can be an encouragement for you that the Lord works through this poor beggar’s life to bring him good, so He can for you as well. My aim is simply to glorify the Lord for He is truly worthy of praise and honor. And I’ll keep relaying these stories about the Lord for it brings me great joy to do so…

Till we are home…